Perth’s building hot spots

Kaitlin Shawcross | The West Australian

Monday, 19 June 2017 11:53AM

Australia’s fastest growing housing markets have been revealed in the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) 2017 Population and Residential Building Hotspots report, with two Western Australian suburbs making the top 20.

Forrestdale-Harrisdale-Piara Waters saw a growth rate of 17.9 per cent with $155.43 million of residential building approved, while Ellenbrook saw a smaller growth rate of 9.2 per cent but $205.44 million of approvals.

Released at the end of last month, the report listed the Forrestdale-Harrisdale-Piara Waters region and Ellenbrook in fifth and eighth place respectively.

An area qualifies as a hotspot if its population grew by more than the 1.4 per cent national average during 2015/16 and at least $150 million worth of residential building was approved during the year. Forrestdale-Harrisdale-Piara Waters saw a population growth rate of 17.9 per cent with $155.43 million of residential building approved, while Ellenbrook saw a smaller growth rate of 9.2 per cent but $205.44 million of building approvals.

LWP Property Group Managing Director Danny Murphy said Ellenbrook had seen more compact housing options spring up to meet the needs of smaller households such as singles, first homebuyers and older couples who were downsizing.

“In late 2017, we will release the first twostorey homes on lots less than 100sqm – a first for Western Australia,” he said.

“With a land cost of less than $100,000, this next generation of Urban Series housing enables buyers to invest in housing rather than land they don’t need.”

Mr Murphy said the Urban Series housing in Ellenbrook town centre had experienced rapid growth as it offered residents easy access to retail and lifestyle facilities.

“The buyers don’t need a large backyard and appreciate the benefits of low maintenance living,” he said.

HIA Regional Executive Director John Gelavis said the gap between Ellenbrook’s population growth when compared with its high building activity was due to the development of many subdivisions and higher land availability than areas such as Forrestdale.

In contrast to last year’s report, there has been a significant reduction in the total number of hotspots in WA, with just five hotspots identified in 2017 compared with 14 in 2016.

In addition to the two areas in the top 20, Byford, Madeley-Darch-Landsdale and Perth city also made the cut, as they did last year.

Mr Gelavis said the drop in WA hotspots didn’t necessarily mean WA had done anything wrong, but that there had been significant growth in other states which bumped WA areas off the list.

“We’ve seen strong population growth in New South Wales and Queensland, whereas WA had massive population growth, particularly from overseas migration, between 2011 and 2013, and that spurred the building boom that we had in 2014/15 where we built 32,000 homes,” he said.

New South Wales experienced close to a three per cent population growth during 2015/16, which Mr Gelavis said WA had enjoyed during 2012/13, but now sat closer to just over one per cent.

The report highlighted areas of expected growth into the next year, with a list of areas likely to become a hotspot by the next report.

A 40 per cent increase in building approvals in the Nedlands-Dalkeith-Crawley region is likely to push the exclusive suburbs onto next year’s hotspot list.

In the absence of available land, Mr Gelavis said the growth was likely as a result of renovations in the area.

“As some of those homes reach a certain age, the people buying into those areas would look to upgrade or add on to what’s currently existing,” he said.

With a 139 per cent growth rate, the report identified Perth city as one area to watch, and with the State Government’s target of a 47 per cent infill by 2050, it is expected to only grow in density.

Mr Gelavis said understanding Australia’s major growth areas helped government and those in the building industry to understand where people were going and what major infrastructure was required for those areas, including public transport.